Learning 1: Formulas for happiness
Happiness expert and Harvard professor, Arthur C. Brooks, has three equations for happiness(1):
I. Subjective Well-being = Genes + Circumstances + Habits
‘Subjective well-being’ essentially refers to how happy you feel on average.
Our genes and the circumstances that surround us are, largely, outside of our control. However, our habits are inside of our control. The question is, what are the essential ingredients of happiness-building habits?
II. Habits = Faith + Family + Friends + Meaningful Work
“Enduring happiness”-building habits, as Arthur puts it, come from:
- Faith: A “…structure through which [we] can ponder life’s deeper questions and transcend a focus on [our] narrow self-interests to serve others.”
- Family + Friends: “…loving, faithful relationships with other people.”
- Meaningful Work: Work that gives you the sense that you are:
- Earning success; being rewarded for hard work, merit, and responsibility
- Serving other people
III. Satisfaction = What you have ÷ What you want
The secret to lasting satisfaction, Brooks suggests, is not to get more stuff, but rather to want less.
We need to learn how to want what we have, not to have what we want in order to get steady and stable happiness. — Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Learning 2: Risk factors for male suicide
Researchers sought to identify risk factors for male suicide (2).
To do so, they reviewed 20 years of narratives across 78 studies. These narratives were from men who were suicidal and from people who lost a man to suicide, involving a total of 1,695 people.
They found an association between some cultural norms of masculinity and suicide risk in 96% of studies. Some of these norms related to:
- “Male emotional suppression”
- “Failing to meet standards of male success”
- “The devaluing of men’s interpersonal needs”
Each of these factors appeared to be associated with increased dysregulated psychological pain and suicide risk.
However, most men who grow up in cultures with these norms don’t suicide.
So, why are these norms a potential risk for some men?
Their answer: “One possible explanation may be that it is the interaction and accumulation of harms across the domains of emotions, self, and interpersonal connections that raise some men’s suicide risk.”
